Anxious
by kira66
Summary: A normal high school reunion brings danger and revelations to our two favorite detectives.
1. Chapter 1

The letter was buried in the mess that she actually had to nerve to call her desk. She had not noticed the letter before. Maybe she had brought it with her the day she picked up her mail before coming in late to work. She wondered how long it had been sitting there, hopefully months. It was from her high school, the one she graduated from about fifteen years before. She knew what it was before she opened it. It was the reunion.

Her best friend from high school would never forgive her if she didn't go. She knew she had to if it hadn't already passed. She knew that it indeed had not; Rodney would've called her before to nag her to come. In fact she had already left a message on her answering machine, Alex just hadn't returned the call. Rodney had just married a couple years ago. Alex had never met her husband; she had been in the hospital at the time of her wedding. The fact that she had been in the hospital was not unusual. With her job it was lucky she wasn't dead yet.

It didn't matter though, because she, Alex Eames, loved her job at the NYPD. What's more she was in love with her partner. What's more, Bobby Goren had no clue about it.

Alex picked up the phone and dialed Rodney's number.

"Hello?" Rodney's voice rang through the telephone.

"Hey Rod, it's Alex. What are you up to?" She asked.

"Not much at all. Are you coming to the reunion? You better be, I think I might have to kill you if you didn't. Oh, and Max says hi, he's nagging me to tell you. He says he anxious to meet you. What a nag." Rodney told her with enthusiasm.

"Yes, I'm going, but you don't have a chance in killing me, I'm faster than you in that area." Alex said with a smirk. "Tell Max I said hi back, and I'm looking forward to meeting him. Hey I have to go, I'll call you back later. Okay?"

"Okay by me. See ya, Miss ya, Bye!" Rodney replied.

"Bye." Alex hung up and smiled, she had never heard that kind of goodbye from Rodney before, but Rodney never ceased to surprise her, just like Goren never ceased to surprise her.

"Good morning, Eames. Looking grim, what's up? It can't be that bad." Bobby said giving her a lopsided grin before he turned to the paperwork on his desk.

"Yes, it can be that bad. But on the other hand, not as bad as you coming in here with one of those cases and dragging me all over New York in the dead of winter to follow one of _your_ leads."

Bobby gave her a puppy dog pout and grinned again. "So what is it?"

"High School reunion, Rodney would kill me if I didn't go." Alex sighed.

"Who's Rodney?" Bobby looked back to the paperwork.

"My best friend from high school." Alex told him without looking up from the paperwork she had started to fill out.

"Need a date?" Bobby asked, grinning.

It took her a good minute before recovering from that bold question. She looked up and grinned. "Looks like I'm dragging you around this time. Let's knock them dead, besides, no one but Rodney knows what I do now. It should be fun, Rodney won't tell a soul either, she'll let me have my fun surprising them."

"When is it?" Bobby asked.

"Next week." Alex grinned up at him. "I'll talk to Deakins, we've got vacation coming anyway."

"Let's start packing." Bobby told her. They didn't actually need to pack, they had extra clothes at the office; just in case. They had been caught in snow/rain storms before and sitting around for hours in wet clothes wasn't fun.


	2. Chapter 2

"Such a charming place." Bobby mumbled, sarcastically. They were on their way to the Radisson Hotel where the reunion was being held; tonight. The traffic was backed up, as it was morning rush hour. Goren was getting edgy from the lack of sleep from their charter flight, upstate, they had taken late last night.

Alex hated when she had to deal with him in this mood.

When they found the hotel after an hour drive they both sank into their beds for a few hours rest. By one o'clock they were walking across the street to the Java Joint to get lunch and meet Rodney and Max.

"This is where Rodney and I and a couple of others used to hang out after school. It had the best coffee and selection of music, believe it or not." Alex told Bobby with just a little too much enthusiasm in her voice.

Bobby could tell she was nervous; she did this cute thing with her hands behind her back. "Come on Eames, let's go inside, I want to meet your best friend." He told her.

"Bobby, she was my best friend in high school. You know damn well you're my best friend now, you big oaf!"

Goren grinned and opened the door for her. They had worn their work clothes; it was hard to get out of the habit. It was even harder to find non-work clothes in their closets.

Alex spotted her friend in record time. She was hard to miss with her flaming red hair. They would have made quite a pair back in high school. Alex took his hand in an absentminded gesture.

Bobby gave it a squeeze for assurance before she pulled him over to the table. They didn't notice the gesture, Rodney did.

"Alex!" Rodney jumped up to give her friend a hug.

"Rod, you're strangling me, I'm glad to see you too." Alex said, laughing.

"Alexandra Eames, this is my husband, Maxwell Davies, Max meet Alex." Rodney announced.

"Nice to meet you Max." Alex said as she and Bobby scooted into the other side of the booth.

"Rod, Max, I'd like you to meet my partner and friend, Robert Goren, Bobby meet my friend Rodney and her husband Maxwell Davies."

"Hey, nice to meet you Robert!" Rodney told him.

"Just call me Bobby." He shook Max's hand.

Rodney was glancing back and forth between him and Alex.

"Rod, drop it, we're not involved." Alex growled.

Rodney only smiled.

"So are you going to tell everyone you're a cop? I mean come on, who would've ever thought that you, Miss Perfect, were going to become one of those, what with your dad and all. That's something they would expect out of me, the wild child of our high school duet." Rodney asked.

"Miss Perfect?" Bobby teased.

"Shut up, Goren." Alex grumbled.

"Yeah, Alex was voted most likely to become an actress. I, on the other hand was voted most likely to get a dangerous job and die before I was 30." Rodney told him.

Bobby couldn't contain his laughter.

"No, I'm still sticking to the doctor story. Bobby..." Alex gave him a you-better-behave-yourself glare, he looked even more amused. She hadn't told him their cover story yet. She be damned if she let those people know what she really did. "He's a psychologist. We're going as a couple for show. They don't need to know any more than that."

Rodney was even more amused. This was going to be interesting. When they left Rodney turned to her husband and said. "You would think that they're married."

"I know." Max agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Later That Night**

The reunion was supposed to start at six but they didn't arrive until seven. She was dressed in a knee length black dress that actually had some flow to it. Bobby thought it was a nice change from her work clothes. He was in a normal work suit. They took their guns with them for caution only. His was strapped into his under his suit jacket and hers in her purse. With all the problems they had with people in the past they couldn't be too cautious.

The music swelled as they walked in. A high school boy was taking coats. They gave him their coats and moved to go inside.

"Alex." Rodney said as soon as she saw her. "You will never believe who's here! It's Elliot Grant, that jerk you dated back in the day."

"He did go to this school Rod he has a right to be here." Alex told her friend, logically.

"Yeah, well, wait 'till you hear what he's saying. He says, _Ally and I never broke things off right. I bet she's still in love with me._ God, what an asshole!" Rodney spat out.

"Bastard! Hey Bobby, why don't we play this up?" Alex said gesturing between the two of them. She hated when people called her Ally, it made her feel like a child again.

"That could be fun." Goren grinned. They went through the second set of doors that lead to the actual reunion. An old school hip-hop record was blasting.

The music changed to a fast swing song.

"Alex, you used to swing in high school, Bobby, what about you?" Rodney asked.

"Ally, wanna dance?" A man asked before Bobby could reply. The man took Alex's hand before asking and led her out on the dance floor.

"That would be Elliot." Rodney told him.

Goren let Elliot have this song, but when it ended and another swing song began Bobby cut in. He didn't feel bad; Elliot only knew the cheesy, two feet on the floor moves. "Elliot, sorry, but may I cut in?" Bobby asked.

Elliot looked puzzled and Bobby took Alex and pulled her close. Then he started to dance. His mom's dance lesson idea when he was younger, paid off.

Bobby swung Alex around, over, and under his body expertly.

Alex executed each move with precision also. They didn't realize a circle had formed around them until after the song had ended.

They got a resounding applause.

Bobby grinned at Alex and slowly put his mouth down on hers. The electric between them was as powerful as lightening. Bobby kept kissing her and Alex responded to each one. They finally broke apart.

To Alex this was like a dream come true. How many nights had she spent wondering what it would be like to kiss him like that?

Bobby was just as shaken as she was by the kiss.

They walked off towards the table Rodney and Max were at.

Bobby caught Elliot's threatening stare. Goren could sense the evil in his eyes. He pulled Alex closer and held her waist even tighter.

"Not involved, huh?" Rodney whispered into Alex's ear when Bobby and Max went to get them drinks.

"Drop it, Rod!" Alex told her friend in a hissed whisper.

They all mingled with the other guests a bit. They stuck to the cover story. Bobby could tell Alex didn't like these people. He knew by now that she had only come for Rodney's sake. Goren kept her close until she was called up on front stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I know you want to dance and talk more but the time has come for traditions. I would now like to invite Rodney Cavanaugh up here to give out the awards." A short balding man said from the microphone on the front stage.

Rodney walked up to the stage.

"Rod was the homecoming queen. Cavanaugh was her name before she married Max." Alex explained to her partner.

"Personally, I would like to invite Alex Eames up here to help me hand these out. As most of you know the class voted on category's such as most changed at 6:30. The ballots have been tallied and the results are in." Rodney told the assembled group of former classmates. Alex had already reached the platform and was standing beside Rodney when it all started.

The man who presided over the festivities that night was standing to the left of Alex. He was the mayor and had the honor of putting the reunion together since he had graduated with this class.

Alex saw the unmistakable glint of a gun with the corner of her eye. She followed the path that the gun was pointed in. It was the mayor.

Bobby saw it too. He was already pushing through the crowd and was making to tackle the man from behind. The man was Elliot Grant.

"Gun!" Alex shouted and dove into the mayor. She heard the stunned gasp of the crowd. The surprise of her weight on him made the mayor fall to one side just as the gun was discharged.

The shot missed. It hit the wall.

Bobby dove into the Elliot from behind just as the second shot discharged. Elliot was taken down and handcuffed by Bobby in seconds. A local police officer in the crowd took over. Bobby didn't know where the second shot had hit.

Alex did. It had hit her in her left shoulder.

Bobby ran towards her. No one had seen what had happened yet. They were all still staring at Elliot. Bobby grabbed her off the mayor and shouted. "I've got an officer down! Let's get some help over here!" 

She was unconscious. Someone who was a doctor in the crowd rushed forward. The woman took her from Bobby's arms and started to check over the injury.

"She's alive!" The doctor shouted. "Get an ambulance here, now!"

The officer who had taken over Elliot was now holding him off to the side.

"Sir." The officer shouted. "Can I have your name, and why on God's green earth were you carrying a gun and handcuffs with you? Aren't you a psychologist?"

Bobby sighed. He removed his badge from his pocket and held it up."Detective Robert Goren, NYPD." He told the officer. "Charge him with attempted murder as well as assaulting an officer and attempted murder of an officer."

"But he didn't harm you." The officer said obliviously puzzled.

"No, but he shot my partner. Detective Alex Eames." Bobby sighed.

"Wait, you mean, Alex...you're serious?" The officer looked at Bobby with wide eyes.

Bobby didn't respond he went over to the gurney that Alex had been placed on by the paramedics. He took her hand and stayed by her side as they went to the hospital. He had heard the unmistakable murmur of the crowd when he announced his and Alex's actual line of work.

**

* * *

**

"_New York City Detective Saves Mayor's Life._" Bobby read, aloud, as they walked to the Java Joint, the next morning. They still had two days left until they left to go back to the city. Bobby had bought that morning's paper just before leaving to go to breakfast.

"I don't want to talk about it Bobby." Alex grumbled. The bullet had only grazed the top of her shoulder, so she only wore the sling to keep the pain down along with its movement.

They walked in and the stares that they got made her nervous. She sat down in a booth and Bobby slid in next to her. They were waiting for Rodney and Max to join them.

"Hey, Alex, um...you know I love you, right?" Bobby asked her.

"Bobby you told me last night when I woke up. Yes I know." Alex smiled. "And I love you too." She thought back to last night. He had looked so worried, or so the nurse had told her, when she had not woke up right away. He had blurted out the declaration of love right after she opened her eyes.

She and he had got in late and slept in until noon. Bobby thought about how that kiss on the dance floor had affected him. He would have never blurted out the declaration of love last night if that hadn't happened. He didn't think that Alex would ever look at him that way or even love him back. Apparently she did.

He leaned down and kissed her thoroughly. Rodney and Max walked in at that moment. They looked at each other and smiled.

"I never thought they'd get it through their heads that they loved each other." Rodney told her husband.

Max smiled at her and turned back towards the couple. "Love works in mysterious ways, dear. Mysterious ways indeed."

** FINIS**


End file.
